Wall Street slides on uncertainty around rate hike outlook

On Monday, US stocks dipped a little bit as investors fretted about the effects of more interest rate hikes on the economy. The biggest losers were technology and megacap sectors.

The markets’ response to the weekend’s foiled uprising by Russian mercenaries, which prompted doubts about President Vladimir Putin’s future and worries about a potential disruption of the country’s oil supplies, saw the major indexes oscillate in morning trade.

The key indices were most heavily weighted by growth firms, with Meta Platforms, Alphabet, and Tesla falling between 2.7% and 4.9%. as a recent run, US stocks slumped last week, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq on Friday ended an eight-week winning streak as Fed Chair Jerome Powell hinted at further interest rate hikes.

Rate increases have been discussed by the Fed in a carefully orchestrated message. Consensus predicts another rate increase for July, but meetings won’t start until the 26th. This week is likely to bring a flurry of economic data, including a crucial inflation indicator, durable goods, and the consumer confidence index from the University of Michigan, as well as Powell’s speech, which may shed light on the Fed’s rate rise intentions.

Most policymakers see at least two more quarter-point rate increases by the end of this year, though traders expect one more hike in July and see the US central bank holding rates steady through the end of 2023.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 2.51 points, or 0.01%, at 33,724.92, the S&P 500 (.SPX) was down 10.68 points, or 0.25%, at 4,337.65, and the Nasdaq Composite was down 95.56 points, or 0.71%, at 13,396.96.

Among single stocks, Pfizer Inc shed 3.8% after the drugmaker said it is discontinuing the development of an experimental obesity and diabetes drug due to elevated liver enzymes in patients in clinical studies.

Defense firms including Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman Corp and Raytheon Technologies also slid between 0.9% and 2.0% following the news on brief revolt in Russia. On the other hand, the S&P 500 energy sector (.SPNY) gained 1.8% as oil prices rose.

Alphabet Inc fell 2.2% after UBS downgraded the stock to “neutral”, while Tesla Inc slipped 4.6% after Goldman Sachs cut the electric car maker’s rating to “neutral”.

Lucid Group jumped 7.0% after entering into an agreement with UK’s Aston Martin that will give the electric vehicle maker a 3.7% stake in the company. PacWest added 5.3% after private-equity firm Ares Management said it had acquired a $3.5 billion specialty finance loan portfolio from the lender.

Carnival slumped 10.6% after the cruise operator forecast third-quarter earnings below Wall Street expectations. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.48-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and 1.06-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq. The S&P index recorded 17 new 52-week highs and two new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 42 new highs and 116 new lows.